The present invention relates to a blow molded, plastic container having an inclined or angled mouth and neck portion, and a method and apparatus for preparing same.
Blow molded plastic containers, such as those made from polyethylene terephthalate, are widely used for many applications, such as, for example, as containers for drinks and cleaning products. These containers customarily have a straight mouth and neck portion, that is, a mouth and neck portion that are coaxial with the body portion of the container.
The preparation of these containers generally involves preparing a preform or parison with a mouth and neck portion that are coaxial with the preform body portion, holding the preform in a blow mold with the preform mouth and neck portion held coaxial with the preform body portion, and forming the desired container in the shape of the blow mold by stretching and blow molding.
For many applications it is desirable to prepare such a container with a mouth and neck portion at an angle to the body portion of the container. However, it is difficult to prepare such an angled mouth and neck portion container by conventional blow molding techniques. For example, such techniques may involve expensive and inconvenient multistage operations where an injected preform is clamped, stretched and blown in the mold at one station and a blow pin is inserted into the mold for blowing and/or compression molding at another station and the neck is bent at a subsequent station or in a subsequent stage of operation. Techniques such as this increase the cost of the container and complicate processing.
Alternatively, a conventional type apparatus cannot be satisfactorily used to mold a container with an angled mouth and neck portion since to do so would require the mold cavity to be aligned so that the desired angular neck is appropriately aligned with the blow pin. Significant processing problems result thereby, as well as problems with the resultant container.
In addition, it is difficult to fill an angled mouth plastic container with contents using conventional equipment.
Accordingly, it is a principal objective of the present invention to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for obtaining a blow molded, plastic container with an angled or inclined neck and mouth portion.
It is a still further objective of the present invention to provide an improved blow molded, plastic container with an angled or inclined neck and mouth portion.
It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus as aforesaid which is easy and expeditious to use on a commercial scale, and which simply and conveniently provides improved containers as aforesaid.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinbelow.
In accordance with the present invention it has now been found that the foregoing objects and advantages are readily obtained.
The present invention provides a method of forming a blow molded plastic container, preferably polyethylene terephthalate although other plastic materials can be readily used, said container having a mouth and neck portion thereof which are inclined or angled with respect to the body portion of the container. The method comprises:
providing a blow molded plastic container having a closed base, a body portion extending from the base, a neck portion extending from the body portion and an open mouth above the neck portion; and
heating the neck of the container and bending the heated neck of the container with a holding means that holds and bends the neck of the container to provide a mouth and neck portion oriented at an angle with respect to the body of the container.
Desirably, the blow molded plastic container is prepared from a parison or preform, with the resultant blow molded container having a mouth and neck portion that are straight or coaxial with the container body portion. The blow molded container with straight mouth an neck portion is then filled with contents, and the heating and bending desirably performed on the filled container. Each operation can be performed at a separate station, wherein the stations may be in-line for an efficient commercial operation. That is the blow molding operation may be performed at a first station, the filling operation performed at a second station, the heating operation performed at a third station, and the bending operation performed at a fourth station.
The apparatus of the present invention forms a blow molded plastic container with a mouth and neck portion thereof which is inclined or angled with respect to the body portion of the container, and comprises:
providing a blow molded plastic container having a closed base, a body portion extending from the base, a neck portion extending from the body portion and an open mouth above the neck portion;
heating means for heating the neck of the container; and
a holding means for holding and bending the heated neck of the container to provide a mouth and neck portion oriented at an angle with respect to the body of the container.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinbelow.